In a surprise move, the ruling Samajwadi Party inducted kin of former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushawaha into the party fold. Kushwaha is presently lodged in jail in connection with the multi-crore rupees National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam.
Kushwaha's wife Shivkanya and his brother Shivshanker Kushwaha along with thousands of supporters joined the party at the state SP headquarters. The enthusiastic workers shouted pro-government slogans terming Mulayam Singh as the saviour of poor and downtrodden Interestingly, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who was supposed to inform the media about the development, skipped the press meet and left it to SP spokesperson and state minister Rajendra Chaudhury to make the announcement. Chaudhary huffed and puffed trying to explain as to why family members of this tainted BSP minister were inducted into the party. He also could not come up with convincing reply as to why Mulayam Singh skipped the press meet.
''The SP is fighting for the cause of social justice in UP and as there is a political turmoil before lok Sabha polls, their joining the party would help us both,'' he said.
Claiming that both Shivshanker and Shivkanya were social workers and they have no criminal background, Chaudhury defended their joining saying : "Why is such a hue and cry being made about it. Babu Singh Kushwaha has not joined the party."
'' Both the social workers have expressed their faith in the ideology and policies of Samajwadi Party and Mulayam Singh Yadav,'' Chaudhury said. Recently, the UP government had ordered a Vigilance probe against Kushwaha in connection with the memorial scam. When asked whether the family members of other tainted ministers too would join the SP, Chaudhary quipped: "Wait till lok Sabha polls.
There would not be any opposition to the Samajwadi Party." He said that the SP is against criminalisation of politics and would not interfere in the CBI probe into the NRHM scam against Babu Singh Kushawaha. Earlier, Babu Singh Kushwaha had joined the BJP on January 4, 2012 before the Assembly polls in UP in a mysterious manner and even went for surrogate campaiging for the party. He was arrested on March 3,2012 by the CBI just after the last phase of polling in UP. Shivkumar, a lawyer by profession, in his brief interaction with the media, said that there was no pressure from the Samajwadi Party to join them nor they are hoping any relief to Babu Singh Kushawaha.
Chaudhury however criticized the Opposition parties saying they are trying to defame the UP government even as the state has progressed in all fields during its 14 month old tenure. The CBI has chargesheeted Babu Singh Kushwaha for conspiring to siphon off Rs 5.46 crore from the Rs 13.4- crore scheme to upgrade 134 district hospitals under the NRHM , when he was the Health Minister in Mayawati cabinet between 2007-11. The CBI had registered five cases on January 2, 2012 against certain government and private sector officials, including one against Kushwaha.